Mar. 18, 2019. By Terry Goplerud and Dave Wiemer, UUCF Generosity Team co-chairs. If you’ve been a member of UUCF for a while, you know that each March, everyone in the congregation is asked to renew their annual pledge. There is usually a theme, a brochure, a banner, posters, sometimes videos and many talks from the pulpit by various people imploring us to make or increase our pledge and to turn in our pledge cards. It involves lots of volunteer and staff time and usually culminates in further staff and volunteer time tracking down missing pledges. Not this year. This year marks the beginning of a new approach to pledging at UUCF. One that benefits the members of the congregation and improves congregational operations. We hope you’ll agree that this approach saves everyone time and money, is more efficient and just makes a lot of sense. Starting this year, the pledge you make will be considered an ongoing pledge. You will not be asked to renew your pledge or to sign a new pledge card every year. In fact, there will be NO pledge cards! (We’ll get to that in a minute.) Of course, you can always increase, decrease or stop your pledge any time you wish. But, unless direct action is taken, your pledge will be just that: your pledge – and it will keep on going. Also starting this year, pledges will be recorded online, through our website and through Realm, our member database. There’s NO pledge card to fill out. Instructions are included in your packet or on the website at uucf.org/agc. If you couldn’t pick up your packet at services yesterday, it will be mailed to you. When you make your pledge online, you will be asked to consider having your pledge increase automatically each year by any percent you choose. How easy is that?! With a consistent level of funding, the UUCF budgeting process will be easier and more predictable. Without the need for brochures, themes and pledge cards, staff and volunteer time will be freed. We members and pledging friends benefit by not spending so much worship time with the annual pledge drive. What a relief! More time can be spent on what we’re here to do: transform ourselves, our community and the world through acts of love and justice. Our pledges fund our mission and give us the foundation on which to grow. All our programs and activities rely on our commitment to this beloved community. This foundation needs to be strong enough to fund normal congregational operations, and also provide for long-overdue staff raises and to build a reserve for building maintenance. It’s naïve to think that this approach will eliminate all future requests for additional funds. But, we aim to target those appeals to specific causes, and only as necessary. For this to work, each of us needs to be as generous as we can. We are being trusted to provide a sustaining level of support that moves our UU mission forward. We ARE UUCF. We can ask ourselves: Am I doing all I can? Can I demonstrate my love and dedication for this faith community by making a generous, sustaining gift? We hope that you will take this trust seriously and make a generous pledge. In the end, it’s up to all of us to make this The Last Campaign.